OM SYSTEM OLYMPUS E-PL5 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 14-42mm Lens (White)

I must say that this camera is amazing. I have been using a Nikon D7000 before this but I decided to reduce weight and went with the E-PL5, and I am not missing the D7000 at all. I used to find myself ditching the big chunky D7000 in most situations and always carrying around a pocketable point and shoot, unless I was going somewhere with breathtaking scenery. So this camera will actually replace two previous cameras I own (D7000 and my small point and shoot).From what I have seen, this camera shoots images with very comparable quality to mid range DSLRs such as the one I had. The size and features of this thing are right on. The touch screen auto focus is a great feature. The camera does a really great job in low light settings. You can shoot with ISOs up to 3200 and still come out with very decent looking photographs. One thing I must point out though, if you are going to shoot in JPEG, make sure to switch to the Large FINE Quality JPEG setting when you get the camera. I don't know why on earth Olympus did this, but the default setting is Large NORMAL Quality JPEG.I have used the 14-42mm II and 40-150mm R lenses with this camera and they are very good and sharp lenses, but the camera really excels with the amazing prime line up of lenses that Olympus and Panasonic offers. The image quality with these prime lenses are just amazing coming out of such a small body. I also have the 15mm Body Cap lens which is fun to use and makes the camera completely pocketable (which I will use for backpacking trips where I need to shave down on weight). Although this lens is a little soft around the edges, the image quality that it produced was surprisingly much better then I expected (similar quality to mid-to-high range point and shoots). For the attention grabbers out there, I have also had several people that have seen me take off the 15mm Body Cap lens and put on the 40-150mm for close ups and were so impressed that I was able to do that with such a small camera.I was thinking between this and the Flagship OM-D. I am glad I decided to go with the E-PL5. I cannot justify the increased size/weight, and the price difference for getting a slightly better image stabilization system, weather-proofness, and a built in view finder. I actually like the option of being able to stick an external view finder on a very bright sunny day, and not having the carry it around when in low light. Just recently there have been direct comparisons of image quality, noise, and dynamic range between the E-PL5 and OM-D and the results so far, to everyones surprise, show that the E-PL5 actually excels slightly in all three categories (which is making the OM-D owners very angry). The explanation for this seems to be that the E-PL5 does not have a low-pass Filter (AA filter). So all in all, you would be paying double the price of the E-PL5 to get the OM-D for some features that do not make the image quality better which in my opinion is not worth it.If you are thinking of getting a mid-range DSLR and/or high range point and shoot, then you should seriously consider this camera. Most importantly for me, my neck/shoulder does not hurt anymore without the expense of image quality after carrying this camera around all day.

As a long time SLR/DSLR user, I was ready for a down-size. Boy, is this a downsize! Be ready, if you're going to use your old SLR lenses with this unit (and the necessary adapter), the lens is much bigger than the camera! Functionally, I love this camera, but you do loose some stability in lieu of portability. Great build quality and actually has more features than my old E510.UPDATE 11-16-13: Just tried turning on my camera and got a pink and yellow pixelated screen for 30 seconds then it died. Will not power on with fresh batteries. Meaning: It will go back to Olympus under warranty and when it is returned it will go on eBay along with the lenses, batteries, and case. Once bit, twice shy.I think I'm going back to traditional DSLR again, too.UPDATE 7-2014: 6 months after factor repair, noticed the camera would completely discharge the battery overnight or w/in 48 hrs even with a fully charged battery. Batteries will last a full day in use, but once camera is shut off, they're gonners over night. Reset to factory defaults, too. Tried new Olympus batteries, new charger, same issue. Decided to call it in since I just had it repaired and Olympus wants to charge me for the eval and repair, despite that this is OBVIOUSLY a defective camera body. Screw that.So, now I have a defective camera body and $1,500+ in lenses. Great. Will sell the lenses and use the body as a paper weight I guess.Sorry Olympus, you've officially lost me as a customer.

Note: This is my first "serious" camera, I am upgrading from a 6 year old point and shoot camera that is worse than what smartphones are capable of now. I have been following the rumor mill and researching the bleeding edge of all compact cameras for the past 6 months, I had no desire to buy an older camera and would probably be considered an early adopter when it comes to all electronics.Just got the E-PL5 yesterday, ordered it as soon as it was available on Amazon for the "normal" price not the marked up price it was at initially, along with the kit 14-42mm lens, the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8 Lens and the Olympus FL-300R External Flash. These are my early first impressions.Pros:- Excellent shooting menu system once you enable the "Super Control Panel" from within the settings. It is mentioned how to use it in the manual but not how to enable it, with some help from Google I was able to enable it. Enabling the Super Control Panel allows you to overlay ALL of your shooting settings while in a shooting mode with the press of the "OK" button, you can then select and edit any of these settings.- Customizable software. Can disable, enable and reassign almost every button and function.- Very well built camera body, feels solid in the hand. The tilt screen and the hinges are very well constructed. I also like the feel of the shutter button and the fact that it is separate from the on/off button.- Combination of this camera, the included hot shoe flash and the external FL-300R flash (sold separately) provides a very inexpensive multi flash solution that is extremely simple to use.- Good selection of compatible lenses. The combination of this camera body and the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8 Lens was a major selling point for me. Shooting feels instant, pictures, even in low light, are very sharp.- The touch screen is very responsive, touch to focus, touch to focus/shoot modes work great.Cons:- The kit 14-42mm lens all-around performance is terrible when compared to the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8 Lens (sold separately). I realize the 45mm is a lot of additional money, but I would not recommend buying this camera if all you plan to use is the kit lens.- This one is obvious, no built in flash. The included hot shoe flash works fine, but the overall package would be a lot more streamlined if the flash was built into the camera.- The touch screen is smaller than I was expecting. When shooting 4:3 the black space on the 16:9 screen is still used to display your shooting settings, but the overall size of the screen is still very small.- Included charger and charge cable is very large. For a package that has a main selling point of portability the size of these included accessories makes no sense. A simple flip out plug wall charger without a cable required would be great.Conclusion: Love this camera, exceeded my expectations in every aspect.Update 2012-11-23: Bought this camera from Amazon on 2012-11-01 for $699, it is now already $599! That is very annoying... why such a sudden significant price drop!?

product LITERALLY DOESNT WORK